It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour
Abu Dhabi: Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said that he will not attend the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference in Abu Dhabi after Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was invited to be the guest of honour.
Qureshi said, “I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj.”
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The ministry of external affairs said that the foreign minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honour' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation.
However, Pakistan envoys will be present there.
Meanwhile, Swaraj has reached Abu Dabhi. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honour.
It is expected that Swaraj will raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack.
Earlier, Qureshi said that the OIC is "our home" so he will go there but will not hold talks with Swaraj.
India and Pakistan have been armed to the teeth since February 14 Pulwama attack when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an SUV car with 350 kg of explosives into a security convoy of 78 vehicles carrying over 2,500 personnel, killing at least 40 jawans.
Most of them were returning to duty after spending their holidays in their respective destinations.
The attack jolted the nation and is being considered the worst terror attack since the Uri attack in 2016.
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